'Forgotten' Twitter co-creator talks about site's creation

Noah Glass explains all

Noah Glass may have came up with the name for Twitter and been part of the original team for its creation but his name isn't exactly synonymous with the service.

It's great, then, that Business Insider has managed to bag an in-depth interview with the co-founder where he explains the inception of Twitter and why he is no longer associated with the microblog.

In a candid but measured interview, Glass says that he is no longer seen as part of Twitter as he "was not in the story" – something which Glass originally found hard to take.

"To not be included in the story was hard to swallow at first, but when I realised what was happening to the product, this thing I helped create, the thing's not about me.

"The thing's about itself. Twitter is a phenomenon and a massively beneficial tool and it's incredibly useful and it helps a lot of people. I realised the story's not about me. That's okay."

"I wanted to be CEO"

Glass also explains that even though Evan Williams eventually became the CEO of Twitter, 'Ev' didn't want to become boss of any company, something he also felt when he was working on Odeo, a search website he created with Glass.

"Ev wasn't happy for a long time," notes Glass.

"He wasn't happy with the structure before Twitter even happened. He was unhappy with the relationships with investors.

"Think about it - he had the money. He had the power. They didn't really do anything.

"In the board meeting we would basically tell them what was happening. They'd say yes, no, offer whatever tidbits of advice. He didn't feel as though he needed that structure anymore.

"He didn't want it. He was trying to find ways to get out of it for a while. For a few months, six months before.

"Quite honestly, he didn't want to be CEO of Twitter. I wanted to be CEO of Twitter. In a lot of ways, he never wanted to be there. The whole time."